"Your Majesty, please reconsider it."
"Your Majesty, this project will surely raise our citizens' morale."
"This would become a good opportunity to gain more support from other tribes as well, Your Majesty."
The voices of all the old people in the room were becoming louder and louder. They threw ideas at each other with some encouraging words so that their ideas would be granted permission to be implemented.
With a raised hand, silence enveloped the room, or more precisely, the meeting room. He intertwined his fingers and brought them in front of his face before his cold and sharp orbs looked at all the faces presented in the meeting room.
"There is no such recognition that needs to be worried about."
"Your—!"
"Did I say that you can move that mouth of yours, Count Tebar?"
Count Tebar sweatdropped when he was pierced by the gaze of the ruler of his empire. He shut his mouth immediately and looked down at the table.
"All of you are spouting some baloney and barking like a dog who has not been given food for days."
The cold atmosphere surrounded the room. All the nobles looked down from looking at their emperor.
"What exactly did you foolishly want to accomplish by throwing meaningless proposals, of which I am well aware of your true intention? Are you taking me for a donkey?"
"No, Your Majesty—"
The man with the beard stopped talking when he received the azure, icy glare. The emperor hummed, then leant back on his velvet chair.
"Laive, what was the issue that circulated in the empire these past months?"
The brunette secretary with glasses stepped beside the emperor before he opened the file he had been holding since then.
"In West, it was reported that many crops of the citizens were stolen; they made a report to Count Tebar, but no action was taken."
Count Tebar raised his head with wide eyes and wanted to open his mouth to protest, but he froze when looking at the emperor.
"The South region in the territory of Duke Tansil was having a raise in tax of 20%. It was already being implemented five months ago, and the tax has been the cause of poverty in that area. Citizens in that area also have the highest death rate from famine. We were not informed about this because the report stated that the death was caused by some viruses. Duke Tansil used this incident to receive funds to create the antidote; the funds were used for the underground nightclub in his territory."
"Your—!"
"The North area. The troop we sent there was coming back with news about a hidden track into the neighbouring kingdom. The track was found near the cave near the border into the north, approximately 100 meters into the north. The track has been investigated as a hole to transfer the citizens as slaves into the Yulzim Kingdom by crossing the border illegally. The emblem of Viscount Morris has been spotted in that area."
Some heads were perked up by the news stated by the secretary. They did not believe that Viscount Morris was bold enough to sell the citizens as slaves, and he did so by using the restricted area to transfer the slaves. The North was deemed a forbidden area for everyone to enter because of the death rate. No one ever came out of there alive.
It is lucky for the Viscount because he did not go further into the North, which was full of snow and a cold climate; if not, the body could not get retrieved, even if demanded by his family.
"Fortunately, we managed to secure one group that would get transported into Yulzim Kingdom, and we got their testament and sent them home afterwards."
Laive flipped the file.
"Two months ago at the Forest of Miracles, the three chiefs were making a report about an intruder without identification, but when further investigation was conducted, it was Count Durriklinson's order for the intruder to plant poisonous substances into their water supply. The intruder has confessed everything."
Laive closed the file and adjusted his glasses before he bowed respectfully.
"That's all the reports, Your Majesty."
"Good work."
Laive bowed again and stepped back. The long, white-haired man straightened his back; his finger was tapping on the table, making an inconsistent melody that made all the nobles in the meeting room anxious.
"The name stated just now will be derogated. The meeting concluded."
He stood up from his seat right after he gave his last word. All the nobles, with their names stated just now, quickly stood up to protest.
"Your Majesty! You can't do that!"
"You need to get approval from the council first, Your Majesty!"
"Please reconsider, Your Majesty! This will not happen again!"
"Your Majesty!"
He stopped at the open door that was being held open by two guards outside. He looked back at the desperate faces of those four people.
"Rejection is not an option, but I do have an easy way to settle this all at once."
He pulled out his sword from his scabbard, pointing the sharp sword in the nobles' direction. All of them stopped breathing in an instant.
"Now choose. I wouldn't want to stain the floor with blood today; blood stains are not easy to clean."
He looked down at the cowering nobles. There is no reply.
"You made a wise decision."
He put back his sword before he walked out.
"The maid will have easy work today."
Boom.
The door to the meeting room was closed immediately after he walked out, leaving the nobles to fall on their knees without having anything to do anymore to reclaim their innocence.
×××××
He sat down on his chair with a table and a mountain of papers that needed to be reviewed. He pinched his forehead with closed eyes.
"Report."
"The Crown Princess was coping in the lab to test her new creation of technology during the day, but at night she would continue doing her paperwork. She has been so busy with that that she has not even gone out to eat; she has also cut down her sleeping hours."
"That kid."
He let out a sigh after hearing about his firstborn.
"Next."
"Princess Nasharis was doing well at the academy. She was becoming good at magic study. Based on her progress, I would say she could skip a grade, but she did not intend to do that and wanted to spend more of her time in the academy with her friends."
"Is that so?"
A small smile crept onto his face when he remembered his youngest child.
"Next."
"The empress has become better. She went out to the garden today and went to His Highness's room, but not for long like before. Her Majesty also started to knit something to occupy her time. I am sure Her Majesty will become better with time."
"That's good."
He brushed his face before letting out a sigh.
"Next."
"Sir Nuribenstin did not say anything, but based on his reaction when asked about his son, he looked upset. I looked further into this, and I got to know that his change in demeanour is still the same. Young Master Rezal did not end his grieving yet."
He pursed his lips, remembering the kid who once used to come to the palace often with his father.
'He must be traumatized more than I expected.'
"Make sure Helenis went out of the lab today; if not, her maid will be the one to blame. Also, put more eyes on Nasharis; wherever she goes, make sure there are at least five people following her without her noticing. Make sure my wife gets healthy food; she has been neglecting her meals these days. Tell the chef to make her favourite food. Also, tell my wife I will be joining her for dinner today."
"As you instructed, Your Majesty."
"You are dismissed for today."
"I have three more hours, Your Majesty."
"And I let you out early. Is that a problem now?"
"No, Your Majesty. But I preferred to stay until it was time to go home. You shouldn't stay in the office until tomorrow morning. You should rest more. You are sleep-deprived."
"You talk too much."
"I know."
Asteric looked up at his secretary before he let out an amused huff when looking at the soft smile.
"Do you want me to bring a coffee for you, Your Majesty?"
He picked up a piece of paper from the stakes and his quill pen.
"Please."
"Very well, I'll be right back."
It was just a few minutes before Laive came back, along with a maid trailing from behind. The maid put a cup of coffee and a plate of dessert on his table. The maid then bowed and walked out.
"Please take a break to drink and eat the chocolate, Your Majesty."
Asteric raised his head from the paper to look at the plate of chocolate. He took one and put it in his mouth before he continued to read the paper on his desk.
"You brought more chocolate than usual. You said that I might get bad teeth if I continued to eat chocolate."
"Today seemed like you needed the energy to be replenished after the meeting. I think it is fine to let loose on your diet for today, Your Majesty. Besides dark chocolate being good for health, I am actually glad your choice of dessert changed rather than eating the sweets."
"Are you mocking my taste now?"
"I wouldn't dare, Your Majesty. Please forgive this lowly wage earner."
Asteric ignored Laive and put another piece of chocolate in his mouth without stopping his hand to get more papers on his desk to be reviewed.
'It tasted better than I expected. That's why Micha likes it so much.'